AUSXIP Erin Cummings
News & Multimedia

The following interview with Rob and Steven was posted on SciFi Wire 31 July 2009

We got a chance to chat with Rob Tapert and Steven DeKnight about their upcoming one-hour drama for Starz, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, which stars Andy Whitfield and sci-fi icon Lucy Lawless in a retelling of the sword-and-sandals tale.

Tapert (Lawless' husband and producer of Xena: Warrior Princess) and DeKnight (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) explained why they decided to "bend history," as DeKnight put it, for the new show.

We just got out of the panel for Starz' upcoming new series, Spartacus. They're
making their presence known here this weekend, nabbing the lanyard rights and
subsequently turning everyone with passes hanging from their necks into walking
advertisements. Every question from the audience was to Lucy Lawless. With all
the salivating males around, this is hardly surprising. The trailer was great,
but, for most guys there, all they needed to know was that it was basically a
show where Lucy gets naked.

"This will have a death toll like nothing you've seen on television before,"
vowed writer-producer Steven DeKnight of "Spartacus," Starz's new
sword-and-sandals epic coming in January.

The premium channel unveiled the trailer during a Comic-Con panel today, and
indeed the series looks gory. And full of naked bodies! Imagine the nudity of
HBO's "Rome," the violence of "Gladiator" and the look of "300," and you'll have
a good idea of what "Spartacus" is like.

It's "big fun back on the small screen," as star Lucy Lawless, the erstwhile
Xena, told the crowd. And here's something you don't hear often from producers:
The network wanted them to push the envelope even more. "There have been times
when Starz has told us, push it a little further. We'll tell you when you cross
the line," DeKnight said.

For all that, though, he added that the violence is more "operatic" rather than
realistic. The nudity, meanwhile, forced Lawless to hit the gym. "I do have to
work out," she said. "Being naked on-screen is no fun."

This was one of the panels at Comic-Con that I was most curious about. You've
probably heard all the stories, since we've been covering the Starz show from
Day 1. It's not supposed to be your father's Spartacus. Bloody violence, sex,
nudity -- all that good stuff they couldn't have gotten away with if they were on
network TV or syndication. And after having seen an extended trailer from the
show at the Spartacus: Blood and Sand panel, I can safely say that Yes, I think
they were right to make those promises. This really isn't my father's Spartacus,
and oh hell yeah this thing has tons of bloody violence, nudity, and sex.

The panel was attended by castmembers Lucy Lawless (she plays Lucretia, the
scheming wife (Lawless describes her as Lady MacBeth) of the guy who runs the
Gladiator training facility known as the Ludus), Erin Cummings (she plays Sura,
Spartacus' wife), Peter Mensah (Doctore, the gladiator's trainer), and executive
producers Rob Tapert and Steven S. DeKnight, also the show's writer.

Comic-Con, Day 3: Don't Mess With Spartacus
Posted on July 25th, 2009
By Stacey Harrison

Today's highlight was a sneak preview of the upcoming Starz gladiator epic,
Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Or, as you'll see as we get closer to the January
premiere date, the TV version of 300. In describing the sex and violence
quotient, the moderator said, "It's going to make Rome look like Full House."

Included on the panel were Lucy Lawless, who plays Lucretia, wife of the
Spartacus' master; Erin Cummings, who plays Sura, Spartacus' long-suffering
wife; Peter Mensah -- who was actually in 300, as the Persian messenger who gets
kicked down that hole by Leonidas -- plays Doctore, the trainer of the
gladiators; producer (and Lawless' hubby) Robert Tapert; and writer and producer
Steven DeKnight, who looks more like a UFC promoter than a show runner.
Spartacus himself was supposed to show up, but newcomer Andy Whitfield had to
beg off due to the production schedule.

DeKnight says the story is far different from the one made famous in the 1960
Stanley Kubrick epic that starred Kirk Douglas. There is much more to the
historical story of Spartacus than was told there. Yes, Spartacus led a slave
revolution that nearly brought the Roman Empire to its knees, but what was his
life like before. That is where Blood and Sand spends much of its 13-episode
first season, making very good use of the relaxed standards that come with being
on a premium network. "Starz told us, push it a little further," DeKnight said.
"When you cross the line, we'll tell you."

Lawless said she will not get to make use of the fighting skills she learned
during all those years on Xena: Warrior Princess. Instead, she spends a lot of
time getting physical in a different way with the gladiators in her husband's
stable. She is desperate to have a baby, and her husband, Batiatus (John
Hannah), is unable to give her one, forcing her to look for help elsewhere. That
aside, the couple does have a workable relationship, but their push for power
drives them to become the Lady and Lord Macbeth of the piece.

The following article was posted on Ugo.com blog and is an interview with the Spartacus cast that attended the Comic Con panel.

Hopefully by now you've seen the ridiculously awesome trailer for Starz'
new action series, Spartacus: Blood and Sand. This afternoon I got to
sit down and talk with the infamous Lucy Lawless and some of the cast
about the groundbreaking show.

Spartacus, produced by Rob Tapert (The Grudge) and Steven DeKnight
(Buffy the Vampire Slayer), will focus on the life of the famous
gladiator/slave that nearly brought down the Roman Empire. The show will
deal with a lot of adult themes, along severe violence, like slavery and
sexuality.

"It occured to us there was not an adult action series on premium
cable," said Tapert.

Lawless plays Lucretia, a Roman noblewoman who co-owns the Gladiator
school where Spartacus, played by Andy Whitfield, is trained and fights
"I play a bad girl, I know you're all shocked by that," said the
fantasy-veteran Lawless.

Lawless promises that Spartacus will be a very unique experience - "I
must say this whole show is really challenging. The acting, the content,
it's challeneging for the audience. Every episode you're going to see
something that makes you go, 'OH MY GOD, I've never seen that on TV.'"

Holy Moly this is incredible! Absofrigginlutely incredible. I was excited about the show before I saw visuals and now that I've seen the visuals, WOW. I LOVED the movie 300 and anything that is set in Rome or Greece and this looks to be on par with that and beyond. Lucy looks AMAZING. Andy looks INCREDIBLE! Rob has created another gem!

We just got out of the panel for Starz' upcoming new series, Spartacus. They're
making their presence known here this weekend, nabbing the lanyard rights and
subsequently turning everyone with passes hanging from their necks into walking
advertisements. Every question from the audience was to Lucy Lawless. With all
the salivating males around, this is hardly surprising. The trailer was great,
but, for most guys there, all they needed to know was that it was basically a
show where Lucy gets naked.

"This will have a death toll like nothing you've seen on television before,"
vowed writer-producer Steven DeKnight of "Spartacus," Starz's new
sword-and-sandals epic coming in January.

The premium channel unveiled the trailer during a Comic-Con panel today, and
indeed the series looks gory. And full of naked bodies! Imagine the nudity of
HBO's "Rome," the violence of "Gladiator" and the look of "300," and you'll have
a good idea of what "Spartacus" is like.

It's "big fun back on the small screen," as star Lucy Lawless, the erstwhile
Xena, told the crowd. And here's something you don't hear often from producers:
The network wanted them to push the envelope even more. "There have been times
when Starz has told us, push it a little further. We'll tell you when you cross
the line," DeKnight said.

For all that, though, he added that the violence is more "operatic" rather than
realistic. The nudity, meanwhile, forced Lawless to hit the gym. "I do have to
work out," she said. "Being naked on-screen is no fun."

This was one of the panels at Comic-Con that I was most curious about. You've
probably heard all the stories, since we've been covering the Starz show from
Day 1. It's not supposed to be your father's Spartacus. Bloody violence, sex,
nudity -- all that good stuff they couldn't have gotten away with if they were on
network TV or syndication. And after having seen an extended trailer from the
show at the Spartacus: Blood and Sand panel, I can safely say that Yes, I think
they were right to make those promises. This really isn't my father's Spartacus,
and oh hell yeah this thing has tons of bloody violence, nudity, and sex.

The panel was attended by castmembers Lucy Lawless (she plays Lucretia, the
scheming wife (Lawless describes her as Lady MacBeth) of the guy who runs the
Gladiator training facility known as the Ludus), Erin Cummings (she plays Sura,
Spartacus' wife), Peter Mensah (Doctore, the gladiator's trainer), and executive
producers Rob Tapert and Steven S. DeKnight, also the show's writer.

Comic-Con, Day 3: Don't Mess With Spartacus
Posted on July 25th, 2009
By Stacey Harrison

Today's highlight was a sneak preview of the upcoming Starz gladiator epic,
Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Or, as you'll see as we get closer to the January
premiere date, the TV version of 300. In describing the sex and violence
quotient, the moderator said, "It's going to make Rome look like Full House."

Included on the panel were Lucy Lawless, who plays Lucretia, wife of the
Spartacus' master; Erin Cummings, who plays Sura, Spartacus' long-suffering
wife; Peter Mensah -- who was actually in 300, as the Persian messenger who gets
kicked down that hole by Leonidas -- plays Doctore, the trainer of the
gladiators; producer (and Lawless' hubby) Robert Tapert; and writer and producer
Steven DeKnight, who looks more like a UFC promoter than a show runner.
Spartacus himself was supposed to show up, but newcomer Andy Whitfield had to
beg off due to the production schedule.

DeKnight says the story is far different from the one made famous in the 1960
Stanley Kubrick epic that starred Kirk Douglas. There is much more to the
historical story of Spartacus than was told there. Yes, Spartacus led a slave
revolution that nearly brought the Roman Empire to its knees, but what was his
life like before. That is where Blood and Sand spends much of its 13-episode
first season, making very good use of the relaxed standards that come with being
on a premium network. "Starz told us, push it a little further," DeKnight said.
"When you cross the line, we'll tell you."

Lawless said she will not get to make use of the fighting skills she learned
during all those years on Xena: Warrior Princess. Instead, she spends a lot of
time getting physical in a different way with the gladiators in her husband's
stable. She is desperate to have a baby, and her husband, Batiatus (John
Hannah), is unable to give her one, forcing her to look for help elsewhere. That
aside, the couple does have a workable relationship, but their push for power
drives them to become the Lady and Lord Macbeth of the piece.

The footage looks AMAZING!!! Lots of nekkid bodies, male and female,
gory fights with a visual style similar to 300. Lucy and Rob's
nameplates were reversed-there was a humorous moment when Lucy covertly
switched them to their proper place amongst audience giggles. Lucy said
she has no fighting but has to work out for the revealing scenes. ;-) When a fan asked Lucy for her nameplate, she heaved a mock annoyed sigh and threw it off the stage to the guy-was hilarious!

Photos from Annie and Lori will be added to the the AUSXIP Spartacus GalleriesOnly a couple of photos from Annie - more will be coming soon

With the flurry of PR for the show in full swing, I've added an images section with the latest PR photos officially released by Starz. AUSXIP has been added as a media outlet for these images. All images are copyrighted to Starz.

All these images have inspired my muse to get creative. There is a new banner on the site and I've added a slighter bigger version of this banner to the new Artwork section in the image galleries.

I've also added pics that were sent to me from Annie who is at Comic Con - the magazine PR from the comic con program guide will be replaced with a full size scan once the troops come home.

Joe LoDuca, very well known to Xena fans for his work on Xena Warrior Princess is now on board in another Rob Tapert project. The blog UpcomingFilmScores reports the following

Joseph LoDuca: Spartacus (tv)

Joseph LoDuca, who just received an Emmy nomination for his Legend of
the Seeker music, continues his long-time working relationship with
producers Robert Tapert and Sam Raimi. He is going to score their next
television project, Spartacus: Blood and Sand, for Starz Media. Starring
Andy Whitfield in the title role and featuring John Hannah and Lucy
Lawless, the fantasy action series will debut on the small screen early
next year. Joseph LoDuca's history with Raimi/Tapert goes back to the
1980s and the Evil Dead trilogy. His other feature film credits include
Brotherhood of the Wolf, Boogeyman and The Messengers.
Written by Mikael Carlsson at 1:42 PM